by Laurel Greer
Now, she loved him enough to go anywhere.
But more than that, she loved herself enough to allow her to go. Loved her family enough to know they’d support her in that decision.
And the contrast between Tavish’s face today and his face the last time they’d been here was as clear as the water rushing past their feet. All panic, gone. All skittishness, gone.
And, most importantly, he wasn’t gone.
“You want to stay,” she breathed.
“Damn right, I do. I’m not my father. And I promise you I’ll never become him.” The gravity in his expression, not sad-serious, but one that acknowledged the profundity of the situation while still sparkling with anticipation, solidified her shaky foundation.
She knew Tavish. And he was telling God’s honest truth. Every molecule in his body projected a singular message: he wasn’t going anywhere.
Not now, not ever.
“I trust you.” The dregs of fear melted into the log and down into the sand at her feet as she burrowed into his embrace. “And I’ll be happy with one child, so that we can stay more portable.”
He shook his head. “I want a big family. We can work on turning that house of yours into a home of ours. I spent my twenties running all over the world. My thirties will be about creating my own—our own—world. You. Me. Kids. Our parents and siblings and nieces and nephews.” He reached into his back pocket and pulled out his passport. “I’ve always carried this on me. Take it. Safeguard it. Our children are going to need stability.”
She took it from his hand and slipped it back into his pocket. “No. You hang on to it. Yeah, kids need stability, Tav. But they need wonder, too.”
“Then let’s give them both. Starting with parents who love and are committed to each other.” He shifted her out of his lap and knelt in the sand, looking up at her in earnest. “Will you marry me, Lauren? Again?”
“Yes.” A wave of unstoppable joy erupted, shimmering perfection throughout every pore of her skin. “Yes!”
He unfastened his bracelet and linked it onto her wrist, threading the toggle through a middle link to make it fit. The loose end dragged against the back of her hand. She stroked the center links, the rings they’d exchanged last summer. “We can have these reshaped into bands.”
Surprise lit his features. He rose, sat and pulled her onto his lap again. “You don’t want to start fresh?”
“No.” Letting the warmth of the sun, and of Tavish’s love, sink in, she pressed her lips to the corner of his mouth, then tilted over and took his mouth in a full, sensuous kiss. “Our past has made us just as much as our present and our future. I want to be rid of the barriers that have kept us apart, but I still want to hang on to the love I had for you then. It’s just a matter of building on it. Of creating our home together.”
“Home’s wherever you are, sweetheart. And I’ve never wanted to have it so much.”
Epilogue
Fourteen months later
Lauren smoothed a hand up her infant daughter’s straining back. Points to her sister for swearing Ben sensed his mommy’s anxiety. It sure seemed to be the same for Charlotte. All the misery in the world was screwed into her tiny, teary face. Lauren’s heart ached with guilt at the same time it jittered with nerves.
“I’m sorry, sweetheart,” she whispered, bobbing around the kitchen island. “Shh.”
“I’ll get her calm. And you, too.” Hips resting against the counter, Tavish tugged at Lauren’s upper arm until both she and Charlotte were encircled by strong muscles. His wide palm rested on Charlotte’s back, working its magic as usual. The baby’s snuffles turned happy, and she nuzzled into Lauren’s chest.
“I shouldn’t be going back to school so soon,” she squeaked, melting into her husband’s embrace. “Charlotte’s barely six months old—what if she gets hungry, or starts crying or...”
Tavish’s lips curved against Lauren’s cheek. “If she gets hungry, I’ll feed her. If she cries, I’ll find a way to make her stop. And in three hours, when your classes are over, you can come back and make sure I’ve done a good job.”
His words slowed her pulse from a sprint to a jog. “You’re so fricking good at being a daddy. And a husband,” she added in a rush.
He toyed with her finger, rubbed his thumb against the gold band he’d put there last New Year’s Eve. Nine months later and it felt like the ring was a part of her. If only it didn’t feel like she was sawing off a limb by leaving her daughter to upgrade her health education coursework, and everything would be back to normal. But she needed to take this step. She’d worked at the holistic health center from when it opened last fall until Charlotte’s birth, and she wanted to take the exam to become a Community Health Education Specialist, which meant upgrading her degrees with some sociology credits.
“How about I play chauffeur?” he offered. “I’ll take Charlie and she can nap in my office.”
Tavish had gone from artist-in-residence at Montana State to sessional instructor within two semesters. His classes had filled up quicker than any other photography course. Lauren had been tempted to take one herself, but it didn’t quite fit in with her program. Plus, she could get private lessons from the most in-demand instructor on campus any time she wanted.
“Okay,” she said sheepishly. “I’ll drive myself on Friday, I promise. These are just first-day jitters.”
“Pixie, I’ll drive you anywhere, anytime. In fact, how does bypassing school, driving on to New York City sound?” he said, clearly teasing.
“That would completely waste the tickets we have booked for our anniversary,” she scolded.
“I can’t wait to take you up Rockefeller Center.” His eyes lit as they started to get the diaper bag ready for their daughter. “But promise me we’ll come right back home?”
“If you want.”
Utter seriousness, blended with utter contentment, set his eyes a deep violet. “I have everything I want right here. No place in the world could ever compare.”
* * * * *
Don’t miss Zach and Cadie’s story,
coming in 2019 from Harlequin Special Edition!
Keep reading for an excerpt from THE FORTUNE MOST LIKELY TO... by Marie Ferrarella.
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The Fortune Most Likely To...
by Marie Ferrarella
Prologue
It was time that he finally faced up to
it. He had never gotten over her.
Sitting on the sofa in his living room, Dr. Everett Fortunado frowned as he looked into the glass of expensive whiskey he was sipping. The single glass, two fingers, was his way of winding down. Not from a hectic day spent at his successful, thriving medical practice, but from the stress of terminating yet another less-than-stellar, stillborn relationship.
How many failed relationships did that make now? Ten? Twelve? He wasn’t sure.
He’d honestly lost count a number of years ago.
Admittedly, the women in those incredibly short-lived relationships had all become interchangeable. Now that he thought about it, none of them had ever stood out in his mind. And, if he was being honest about it, Everett couldn’t remember half their names.
As for their faces, well, if pressed, he could give a general description, but there again, nothing about any of them had left a lasting impression on his mind. Strictly speaking, he could probably pass one or more of them on the street and not recognize them at all.
A mirthless laugh passed his lips. At thirty-three he was way too young to be on the threshold of dementia. No, that wasn’t the reason behind this so-called memory loss problem. If he were being entirely honest with himself, he thought, taking another long, bracing sip of whiskey, this cavalcade of women who had been parading through his life for the last thirteen years were only poor substitutes for the one woman who had ever really mattered to him.
The only woman he had ever been in love with.
The woman he had lost.
Lila Clark, the girl he’d known since forever and had barely been aware of until he suddenly saw her for the first time that day in Senior English class. Though a straight A student, Everett had found himself faltering when it came to English. Lila sat next to him in class and he’d turned to her for help. She was the one responsible for getting him through Senior English.
And somewhere along the line during all that tutoring, Lila had managed to make off with his heart. He was crazy about her and really excited when he found out that she felt the same way about him. Not long after that, they began making plans for their future together.
And then it had all blown up on him.
When he’d lost her, his parents had told him that it was all for the best. They had pointed out that he was too young to think about settling down. They wanted their brightest child to focus on his future and not squander his vast potential by marrying a girl from a working-class family just because he’d gotten her pregnant. To them it had been the oldest ploy in the world: a poor girl trapping a rich boy because of his sense of obligation.
But Lila really wasn’t like that. And she hadn’t trapped him. She’d walked out on him.
Everett sat on the sofa now, watching the light from the lone lamp in his living room play across the amber liquid in the chunky glass in his hand. He would’ve given anything if he could go back those thirteen years.
If he could have, he wouldn’t have talked Lila into giving up their baby for adoption.
Because that one thing had been the beginning of the end for them.
He’d been at Lila’s side in the delivery room and, even then, he kept telling her that they were doing the right thing. That they were too young to get married and raise this baby. That they could always have more kids “later.”
Lila changed that night. Changed from the happy, bright-eyed, full-of-life young woman he’d fallen in love with to someone he no longer even knew.
And that was the look in her eyes when she raised them to his. Like she was looking at someone she didn’t recognize.
Right after she left the hospital, Lila had told him she never wanted to see him again. He’d tried to reason with her, but she just wouldn’t listen.
Lila had disappeared out of his life right after that.
Crushed, he’d gone back to college, focusing every bit of energy entirely on his studies. He’d always wanted to be a doctor, ever since he was a little boy, and that became his lifeline after Lila left. He clung to it to the exclusion of everything else.
And it had paid off, he thought now, raising his almost-empty glass in a silent toast to his thriving career. He was a doctor. A highly successful, respected doctor. His career was booming.
Conversely, his personal life was in the dumpster.
Everett sighed. If he had just said, “Let’s keep the baby,” everything would have been different. And his life wouldn’t have felt so empty every time he walked into his house.
He wouldn’t have felt so empty.
Blowing out a breath, Everett rose from the sofa and walked over to the liquor cabinet. Normally, he restricted himself to just one drink, but tonight was different. It was the anniversary of the day Lila had ended their relationship. He could be forgiven a second drink.
At least, he told himself, he could fill his empty glass, if not his life.
Copyright © 2018 by Harlequin Books S.A.
ISBN-13: 9781488093500
From Exes to Expecting
Copyright © 2018 by Lindsay Macgowan
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